Marshall looked from side to side and smiled, like he couldn’t care less about the trials we’d been through, or the danger. Anger curled inside me. When he tried to take my hand, I snatched it away, but he was quick. He grabbed again and got me. His grip was so tight it hurt. The pain made me wince.
‘Don’tmess me about Kate!’he rasped, his mouth against my ear.
Up close, I could smell drink and tobacco on his breath.
‘I’m not happy with you,’he whispered. ‘I came all this way. I went out of my wayto come and help you. And what did I find when I got to you? Betrayal. What kind of thanks is that?’
Betrayal? But I hadn’t done anything.
‘You kissed. You kissed another boy,right in front of me. How could you?’
So that was it. He’d seen Leon and I kissing. He’d been spying. Was I ever going to be free from Marshall and his insane jealousy? Was I ever going to be allowed to be happy, to have a life of my own?
‘You’re crazy!’I screamed, exploding with anger
I thrashed and twisted, tried to break out of his grip. I didn’t care about the consequences.
‘It’s over!’I yelled. ‘You and I–we’re done! We’ve been donefor months! Don’t you get it? We’re finished. I can do what I like. I can see who I like. I can kisswho I like. I don’t owe you anything. I haven’t betrayed you. I’m not your girlfriend anymore!’
‘Oh. Yes. You. Are.’
He twisted my arm behind my back. His eyes were full of hatred and disgust. Gemma tried to stop him but he pushed her away. He took a roll of gaffer tape from his pocket, shoved us together, and began to wind it round our middles, pinning our arms to our waists.
‘You’ll be sorry,’said Marshall, his voice cold. 'No girlfriend of mine is going to get away with cheating on me. You’ll regret it, Kate. You will. I’ll make sure.’
Chapter Forty Five
‘At least it’s dry up here,’ I whispered.‘I feel a bit warmer, don’t you?’
This was a lie. I was shivering more than ever. Gemma and I had been dragged up the steps to the library, then pushed in a corner. Behind us, a large broken window gave way to the elements. The gaffer tape around our arms was so tight the slightest movement constricted our bodies. Every time one of us breathed, the other felt it. It didn’t help that Gemma was sobbing so much she was hyperventilating. I kept talking, trying to calm her.
‘Do you remember when we used to sit at that computer over there and look up song lyrics, instead of doing our French homework? And what about that time when we smuggled a bag of crisps and ate them from your pocket and the librarian caught us. She had a moan and took them - then we saw her eating them in her lunch break!’
‘I want Greg,’Gemma sobbed. ‘Where’s Greg?’
I didn’t know what to say.
‘He - he went looking,’I mumbled. ‘He went looking for you. He got out.’
‘Got out where?’
‘Out of the art room, through the flood.’
‘What! Where is he now? Is he okay?’
‘He - um - he - he was really brave.’
I could see the despair forming across her face.
‘Don’t worry. He’s a strong swimmer. He's bound to befine.’
I knew he wasn’t, of course, but if I told Gemma the truth, it would destroy the little morale she had left. Right now, I needed her to be strong. We both had to be strong.
‘What about the others?’she whimpered.
‘Leon’s hurt his legs. I think his ankles are broken.’
‘Oh, god!’
‘He tried to jump to the ridge, but didn’t make it.’
‘And Curtis?’
‘Curtis has passed out. He drank something dodgy. Leon reckoned it was -’
I stopped myself.
‘Honestly,’I said confidently. ‘Let’s think positive. We’re okay. We’re all going to be okay.’
I realised I was mainly trying to convince myself. My mind kept flipping between images ofMarshall’s torch-lit leer, the sight of Leon’s broken ankles, Curtis on top of the cupboard, Greg in the water, the creaking sinks in the art room, and sewage busting out of the pipes.
‘How did you know I was here?’said Gemma.
‘I didn’t. It was luck. I heard you banging on the locker. I’d been trying to find a way out. I hadn’t known the rest of the school was open. I mean, it hadn’t been, until - oh, Gem, I was so happy when I saw you. We thoughtyou’d gone mad and made a run for it. We were scared you’d drowned.’
‘He grabbed me,’she whispered, between sobs.‘I was in the art room with all of you. It went dark, then I felt a pair ofhands around my mouth and my waist–and–and– ’
It made sense. I blinked.
‘He took you when the candles went out,’I said, appalled at the thought. ‘I thought they’d gone out by accident, from a draught, but it was him. He blew them out deliberately, to distract everyone, to create a diversion. He planned it, Gem.’
I realised I had no sympatheticthoughts left for him. There’d always been a part of me that had wanted to help him, make him less angry, less needy. But that was all gone now. He’d gone too far, caused too much damage. I could see him prowling near the bookshelves,ruminating on my supposed‘betrayal’. He looked like someone who’d lost grip on reality.
An hour went by. Maybe less, but I was aware of every moment. And every moment seemed to stretch. The thought of the rising water sat uneasy in my mind, and Leon, my Leon. I tried to think of good things: our kiss, our talk of growing old together, of where we would go on our first date. After all we’d been through, it deserved to be special. It wouldbe special. I prayed he wasn’t in pain,hoped he wasn’t cold.
I was freezing. I couldn’t feel my toes or fingers and my teeth were chattering constantly. I started to daydream about warm fluffy towels, the under-floor heating in my mum’s bathroom, the heat of a hair dryer - anything to be warm and dry.
All of a sudden, Gemma squealed.
‘Quiet,’I whispered, worried she’d draw attention to us.
She squealed louder, started to wriggle. I turned as far as I could and saw what the problem was. On the desktop, a few inches from her head, was a rat.
‘Eugh!’
We both tried to pull away. The rat wasn’t bothered. It crept up to Gemma and started nibbling her hair. I felt terrible for her. It was ghastly, but I had to focus - something else had claimed my attention. On the same desk, a mere foot away, was a dagger-shaped shard of glass. My thoughts sprang to life. As the rat sniffed and nibbled, I shuffled towards the table and nudged it as hard as I could. It tipped and clattered to the floor. Gemma yelped.
Sure enough, Marshall marched over.
‘What’s going on?’
‘A rat was on us,’I said.
We watched it scamper under the bookshelf.
‘Big deal!’said Marshall. ‘You’re telling me you’re scared of a little rodent?’
Scared of the big rodent standing in front of me, I thought (but didn’t say out loud).
Eventually, Marshall went back to scowl in the dark. And I pushed the shard of glass out from where I’d trapped it under my foot, kicked it towards my left hand and made a clumsy but determined effort to slice through our gaffer tape binds.
Chapter Forty Six
We didn’t move straight away. We waited for our opportunity. But when Marshall began shoving stacks of books off the shelves, I knew it was time. He stormed along the rows, systematically emptying each bookcase. I guess it was some sort of anger release, but it was adequately absorbing that it took his attention away from us. I whispered to Gemma.
‘Listen. In a second, you and I are going to stand up - silently - and then we’re going to tiptoe to that broken window behind us. We’re going to see if we can use it as an exit.’
‘I’m scared,’said Gemma.
I squeezed her hand.
‘You can’t be scared–you’re a Goth.’
‘I’m not a very co
nvincing Goth.’
At this, we laughed. We cried and laughed. But it felt good, a reminder of why we were friends, our jokes, our banter. Normality.
We watched and waited. When Marshall was done messing the shelves, he sat cross-legged on the floor and started manically flicking through the pages of an encyclopaedia. He looked engrossed - hopefully it would do him good. Meanwhile, I gave Gemma the cue.
We hunkered to our feet. It was difficult because we were both shivery, both exhausted, but as soon as we got moving, the adrenalin kicked in. We crouched and sneaked beside the upturned desk, behind the computers, towards the window.
‘Look,’I whispered, desperate to cheer Gemma along. ‘Can you see? The rain has stopped. The sky’s starting to clear.’
We stared up through the broken glass and saw the moon. We even saw stars. The torrent of floodwater was still rushing below, but it looked like the worst of the weather had finally passed. I held my little finger out to Gemma, linked it with hers.
‘Friends forever,’I said, smiling.
With Gemma acting as lookout, I climbed up to the window. It was obvious how it had broken–and how Marshall had managed to enter. A massive beech tree on the bank of the ridge had uprooted and fallen against the building. It looked precarious, but ultimately, it was a bridge - and a better bet than a hastily constructed homemade zip wire.
I peered forward. A large section of tree trunk had been submerged. It was acting like a dam, slowing the current. The water was still a hazard, but it looked passable. I jumped down, whispered my findings to Gemma.
‘Just think of it like an assault course,’I said, remembering how Leon had encouraged me.
‘I hate assault courses,’she replied.
‘Then think of Greg,’I said, holding her hands. ‘Think of Molly.’
We hugged, wished each other luck.
‘You go first,’she said.
We both climbed onto the desk. Carefully, quietly, I pulled back one of the branches that was blocking the way. Just a simple skip across a fallen tree, a leap over a stream, a crash landing onto bramble-covered ridge. Easy. I imagined myself as a gymnast or an acrobat at a circus. I stood up, faced the wind. The cold prickled my skin. The sound of the raging water was frightening, but if Leon had managed to pull himself out with two broken ankles, I had to believe I could do the same.
I stepped forward, looked for the sturdiest branch, the best way to duck the razor sharp sections of glass that were wedged into the window frame. I aimed my sights. Then I heard a yell.
‘What do you think you’re doing? I’m not done yet! I’m not done with you, Kate!’
A moment later, Marshall’s hands were on my waist, dragging me away from the window, pushing me onto the floor.
Chapter Forty Seven
‘Let me go! Let me go!’
I screamed and kicked, but Marshall held tighter, pinned my legs with his knees, pushed my face into the ground. Gemma tried to get him off me, but he shoved her back. I couldn’t believe that a person I’d once been madly in love with was now being so aggressive. I felt disgusted to my core.
‘Why are you doing this to us?’I cried, saliva pooling under my cheek.
‘I’mnot doing anything,’said Marshall. ‘You’re doing it to yourselves. If you’d only stayed where I’d put you, there wouldn’t be a problem.’
‘But we don’t want to stay! We want to get out of here! That’s all we’ve wanted to do since the flood started! Why are you making us stay? You said you’d come to rescue us!’
He pinched my mouth.
‘That was before I discovered you were cheating on me,’he hissed. ‘How do you think that made me feel, Kate? I came all the way to help you and then I had to watch you ramming your tongue down that little boy's throat. You’ve hurt me, Kate. Just like you did before.’
There was no way I could reason with him. He’d gone to a place beyond rational thought. I closed my eyes, considered my next move.
‘So, you’ve got a problem with me,’I said. ‘Deal with me, then. Don’t take it out on my friends. Let Gemma go.’
Marshall snorted.
‘Good try. But we’re in this together now. If I let her go, she’ll go running to the police and spin a load of liesabout how nasty I’ve been -’
Gemma glared at him.
‘There’s no way I’m getting into trouble for this,’Marshall insisted. ‘I haven’t done anything wrong. Okay, I played a few pranks, but they were a joke, a bit of fun, to wind up a cheating girlfriend. Anyone would see my point of view.’
‘No, they won’t,’I warned. ‘What you’ve done…it isn’t normal. You’ll end up in prison. You’ve already been in court once. They’ll take that into account.’
I considered the list of possible crimes. Harassment? Intimidation? Kidnap? Endangering the lives of others? Manslaughter? Marshall gripped my face tighter.
‘You reckon?’he said. ‘Look what happened there. That wimp, Alex Menzies, dropped the charge. Case got thrown out of court. I’m invincible. Unstoppable.’
As he said this, I saw red. The anger splintered my head. I wanted to throw him off me, punch him in the face. For the first time in my life, I wanted to punch someone, punch them so hard they saw stars. I shook, but I couldn’t move my arms. So instead, I used my mouth.
‘Do you know what you’ve done?’I shouted. ‘Do you? You knewwe were in trouble and then you deliberately made it harder for us. You’re sick. You’re disturbed. Because of your malicious pranks, we blamed everything on Byron. Now, he’s missing. Greg is...is missing. Leon is hurt, and for all we know, he might be drowning. Not to mention the fact that Curtis is unconscious, sick to his stomach. They’re my friends. You’ve hurt my friends and if you think that’s something you’re going to get away with, then you’ve got another thing coming. I promise you, Marshall, when we get out of here, you’ll be in so much trouble you’ll be locked away for years. And I’m not going to be bullied into dropping any charges. I’mnot afraid of you -’
Marshall twisted tighter on my arms, breathed his nasty tobacco breath into my ear.
‘Ouch. Katy’s got an attitude. Who’d have thought? My little Princess Kate. Didn’t know you had it in you -’
‘There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Marshall. And that’s because you’re NOT MY BOYFRIEND ANYMORE. And you neverwill be. I’ll never forgive you for what you’ve done to us.’
‘IT WAS A JOKE!’said Marshall. ‘Pay back for your sleazy little kiss with lover boy. Where’s henow, then? Where’s he? I don’t see him rushing to help you. Oh no, I forgot, he can’t walk -’
If I felt I was losing my temper before, at this, I totally snapped. The rage burst out of me. I surged and broke free.
‘I HATE YOU!’I screamed. ‘You’re poison!’
I lashed at his face, dug my nails into his cheeks. He seemed shocked at my outburst, but I wanted him to know the full extent of my feelings, so that there could be no doubt.
‘You’re nothingto me,’I hissed.
I expected him to grab for my arms again, but instead he broke down. His eyes filled with tears. He began to sob.
‘It was a joke, Kate. Just a joke. Don’t say I’m nothing to you. You know that’s not true. You know I love you.’
When he saw Gemma watching, he pulled me aside, looked for privacy.
‘I love you, babe,’he whispered, stroking my hair.‘I’m sorry. Let’s not fight. I came to save you, didn’t I? That’s how much I love you. I’d do anything for you. I can’t have you telling me I’m nothing to you. Put it right, will you? Tell me you love me back.’
Maybe, given the circumstance, telling Marshall I loved him would be the right thing to do. Maybe it would make him let us go. But I couldn’t. My heart was a stone.
‘Say it, Kate. Tell me you love me.’
I opened my mouth, but the words wouldn’t come.
‘Say it.’
I just couldn’t.
‘SAY IT!’
He flipped again, grabbed my hair, yanked my head back. It happened so quickly I didn’t have time to resist. I felt my neck twist, the hair rip from my scalp.
‘Ow!’
‘SAY IT!’he screamed.
I could hear Gemma shouting in the background, pleading to Marshall. Marshall just pulled tighter, dragged me to the floor. There was nothing I could do. He had the strength, the power. Then I heard a scream–one crazy, mammoth, animalistic scream–and all of sudden, Marshall was off me, and everything was a blur.
Chapter Forty Eight
The next thing I saw was Byron’s skinny body swinging from Marshall’s back. Byron was screaming, howling like an animal. Marshall looked startled, like he didn’t know what was happening. In the confusion, he tripped over, fell flat on his face. Byron leaped onto his back, pinned him down and threatened to bite off his ears.
Gemma and I ran to each other. I could tell she was as stunned as I was by Byron’s appearance and, like me, didn’t know whether to be pleased or afraid. It was obvious Byron and Marshall weren’t friends, but while we knew for certain that Marshall had it in for us, Byron was still a mystery. It didn’t help that he looked completely terrifying. His face was bruised and swollen. His shirt and trousers were covered in blood and his eyes were wild. He looked, I guess, like a psychopath. Way more than Marshall did, anyhow.
As soon as Marshall managed to push Byron off, he picked him up by the collars and slammed him against the wall. As insanely terrifying as Byron looked, ultimately he was no match for Marshall’s six-foot build.
‘You again?' Marshall sneered. 'I thought you'd know better than to come back here. How's the leg?'
So Marshall was the one who'd slashed Byron's knee. Byron hadn't been making it up. There had been something - or someone - in the water.
'Think you’re a hard man, do you? Think you can scare me?’
He reached into the waistband of his jeans, pulled out a shard of glass, like the one I’d used to cut the gaffer tape, anddrew the point to Byron’s throat.
Rain In My Heart Page 14